Emergency Communications

[Wandering Sagebrush]

https://www.rei.com/product/203003/acr-electronics-bivy-stick

ACR Electronics Bivy Stick??? $199.99

The number of one star reviews is only one less than the five star reviews. I’m not sure I would buy one.

 

[Tom n N]

This article might be helpful:

How to Choose Between a PLB and a Satellite Messenger​

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html

Regards,

Caig

Great info, thanks for sharing

 

[rubberlegs]

I finally had a chance to test the iOS 18 satellite texting. My first impression is this will kill off the InReach system some day, but isn’t quite ready for that yet. It may be like how phones have replaced hand held GPS receivers with far better functionality.

We successfully sent messages out. Unfortunately we got messages back through a WiFi connection (we were at DVNP visitor center), so I can’t comment on two way communication yet. Texting via satellite won’t work if there’s cell service.

Also when I sent a message via satellite to my phone, I couldn’t receive it using WiFi. Perhaps it has to go through SMS texting. The texts showed up as soon as I was in cell service. This isn’t a really big deal for emergencies, but didn’t work for our testing.

We’ll do more testing when in the back country next week and report back.

We’ve also done the demo test of emergency satellite with the phone which you can do in cell service. That seems to work well.

My other initial thought: if you aren’t a hiker and stay close to your truck, the phone may be a good option. If you are hiking where it’s easy to drop the fragile phone, perhaps an InReach device is better. I’m liking having both for now.

 

[Tom n N]

I finally had a chance to test the iOS 18 satellite texting. My first impression is this will kill off the InReach system some day, but isn’t quite ready for that yet. It may be like how phones have replaced hand held GPS receivers with far better functionality.

We successfully sent messages out. Unfortunately we got messages back through a WiFi connection (we were at DVNP visitor center), so I can’t comment on two way communication yet. Texting via satellite won’t work if there’s cell service.

Also when I sent a message via satellite to my phone, I couldn’t receive it using WiFi. Perhaps it has to go through SMS texting. The texts showed up as soon as I was in cell service. This isn’t a really big deal for emergencies, but didn’t work for our testing.

We’ll do more testing when in the back country next week and report back.

We’ve also done the demo test of emergency satellite with the phone which you can do in cell service. That seems to work well.

My other initial thought: if you aren’t a hiker and stay close to your truck, the phone may be a good option. If you are hiking where it’s easy to drop the fragile phone, perhaps an InReach device is better. I’m liking having both for now.

Appreciate the update.
You and others make a good point about the fragility of a phone. Honestly, in our older age we’re sticking a lot closer to the truck these days. Not a lot of all day hikes and boulder hopping as in days gone by, but still, something to consider.

Looking forward to hearing how things work once you get further into the back country. I would say if you can reliably have a two way text with someone back home when you’re in a place like Stripped Butte Valley, then I would think you’re good to go texting for help from anywhere. Again, for the purposes of this discussion, am only interested in two way text communications when out of cell or WiFi range.

I agree that we are on the cusp of satellites making not only the various emergency devices, but our entire cell tower infrastructure obsolete soon. It’s ironic that early mobile phones used satellite technology originally, then transitioned to the current tower system. I have a cousin who has spent her entire career in third world countries, mainly in Africa and Asia (she’s currently in Nepal) and has always depended on satellite phones during her rural travels. I always hoped that the technology would someday become accessible to regular travelers like me. Are we actually at that point now?

Anyway, thank you for sharing the results of your real world field testing. I and I’m sure many others really appreciate it. Keep us posted.
Tom